50 Random Things About Me

So I guess I've decided to do a post on 50 random things about me... I wasn't planning on doing one of these but I wanted to challenge myself. I kind of think I won't actually be able to come up with 50 things to tell you. I'll try to make them things most people don't know about me.

1. I was born in Mobile, Alabama, which is as South as you can get. I lived there until I was 8.

2. My favorite color has been green for as long as I can remember.

3. My dream is to travel the world but I've only been out of country twice: once to Pakistan when I was a baby (I don't remember a thing) and the other time to Canada when I was in 3rd grade.

4. I have attended 7 different schools so far in my life.

5. I have lived in 4 different states.

6. I love art now, but as a child I always thought I was terrible at it and never really enjoyed it. 

7. I cannot deal with having long nails... It drives me bonkers. Lately I've been trying to grow my nails a little longer so that they have a better shape, but they are already driving me insane.

8. I sit on the floor in my closet for 10-20 minutes every morning trying to figure out what to wear.

9. I really hate Dr. Pepper- it tastes like Coke and bubble gum mixed together.

10. My favorite season is winter. 

11. My birthday is in January (coming up soon!)

12. I love cooking all types of foods. I try not to bake too many desserts... We all know what happens if there's cake in the house!

13. My cat got my parents to come to my room in the middle of the night when I was in too much pain to call for help.

14. Writing has always been my 'thing'

15. I've been in the newspaper, an official brochure for tourists who come to Mobile, and an ad for my preschool on TV.

16. My dream is to play a role in a TV show even though acting is something I doubt I'll pursue.  

17. I love the cities Boston, Chicago, 

LA, and San Francisco.

18. I love the snow.

19. I really can't think of a certain thing that I don't like to eat. A lot of people have something they don't like, such as a fruit or vegetable, but I don't.

20. I have two little sisters; one is 10 and the other is 2. (Almost 11 and 3)

21. My sisters and I have really close birthdays. Mine is January 19th, Alina's (10 year old) is January 17th, and Zoya's (baby sister) is on February 2nd.

22. I wrapped my umbilical cord around my neck before I was born and could have suffered from brain damage or even died. 

23. I still can't believe that next year I'll be in high school... In my head, I'm still 8.

24. My favorite number is 3. It has been 3 for as long as I can remember. I have some sort of happy feeling when I remember my days of being three years old, and I think that's why I chose it.

25. I do not like playing competive sports because I kind of suck at sports.

26. I'm not very quiet, but a lot of people think that I am.

27. I've always wants a blog.

28. I used to watch Toddlers and Tiaras- how shameful!

29. I tend to get along with people who are older than me.

30. I can spend hours stalking people in Instagram.

31. I enjoy decorating my own room and used to want to be an interior designer.

32. I've never worn Uggs... I think they are Ugg-ly.

33. I've technically had 3 different cats but only one of them worked out for my family. 

34. My cat is laying next to me as a type this. Here are some pics:

36. When I was really little, someone saw a drawing I made of a sunflower, really liked it, and asked to put it on display at a children's section of a museum.

37. I've never been to a concert (I know... LLLAAAMMMEEE!) 

38. I love hanging out in bookstores 

39. My favorite TV show is called Once Upon a Time

40. I don't watch PLL... I guess I'm the only one left on this earth who doesn't watch it.

41. In my life I've wanted to be a doctor, lawyer, politician, writer, and more. I have absolutely no idea what I want to do when I get older.

42. I have always dreamed of volunteering at an animal shelter.

43. I don't like New York City! It's just too much for me. It's ok for visiting, but I would NEVER want to live there.

44.  I love music, but when I was younger I never listened to any kind of music. 

45. My hair is super long but you can't see how long it is because it's curly.

46. I like to sleep in chilly, dark, rooms.

47. I'm really picky when or comes to water. People say that water doesn't taste like anything, but I can taste the difference in different types of water and I can hardly drink some of them. 

48. I like to keep my alarm on for 6 AM on weekends just to feel the satisfaction of turning it off and going back to sleep.

49. I love taking pictures but I don't officially follow the rules of photography.

50. I really want to go to sleep... As usual.

I hope you guys liked reading the random things about me! Now you know what a loser I am! What's something no one really knows about you? Leave your answer in the comments below! 

Restaurant Review: Essence Bakery

I've been putting this off for a while. I went to Essence Bakery quite long time ago to try their macaroons. It's a small place that's not too fancy. It's usually very full.  

The bakery had not only macaroons, but cookies and pastries that looked absolutely delicious! We bought only macaroons because that's what Essence is famous for. We bought raspberry/rose, chocolate, caramel, lemon, and hazelnut. We wanted to eat them after lunch, but it was too hard to resist! 

Chocolate, caramel, raspberry/rose

The raspberry/rose was an acquired taste, but I liked it. It definitely had a rose flavor. The chocolate was rich and fudgy. The caramel was my favorite out of the three.

We bought the hazelnut and lemon for my dad. When I did try them, I really liked them. The hazelnut was one of my favorites. 

I ordered the spanakopita for lunch. My sister ordered the tomato grilled cheese, and my mom got the burger. 

Spanakopita: Puff pastry with spinach and feta cheese

Tomato with mozzarella cheese

Dry, mediocre burger

The burger was kind of dry and flavorless. I really liked the spanakopita, but it was a little cold. The grilled cheese wasn't bad, either. I didn't really think anything was SO good that I'd crave it and have to come back for more.

The macaroons were good, but not the most amazing thing I've ever put in my mouth. I'd recommend the caramel, hazelnut, and lemon. I'm not sure when I will return to Essence bakery. It's kind of far away and not too much to write home about. Maybe I'm not the macaroon type of person... I'm not really sure. It was a good, but not earth-shattering experience. 

San Francisco

San Francisco is one of my absolute favorite cities (next to Boston and Chicago of course.) Over Thanksgiving break, my family and I drove to San Ramon, California, where my cousins live. It was a 12 hour drive of torture. Well, it wasn't actually that bad, but no one wants to be cooped up in the back seat for 12 hours! Plus, my two little sisters were also crammed in there. We left at about 6 PM and arrived near to 6:30 AM in California, so by our time, it took us over 13 hours to arrive. The worst part of the drive was when we were less than two hours away (so close!) we got stuck in a huge traffic jam. We literally drove a mile in more than an hour. Painful memories....

Finally, after one of the longest drives I've taken, we arrived at my cousins' house. It was like a dream. The sun hadn't risen yet, and fog clung to the round hills. We were greeted at the door by my aunt and uncle, grandparents (who were also visiting for a short time) and my two cousins. We had a delicious breakfast and went straight upstairs. We basically hung out and relaxed for the whole day. The weather was surprisingly warmer than it is here, so we took long walks and got Starbucks. I realized that it was the perfect day to go watch Catching Fire, which I really really really wanted to watch. I somehow convinced my Dad to take us after dinner.

We ate a delicious dinner, and headed right to the theater. My Dad was really tired from driving all night long the previous night, and vowed that he would be sleeping through the whole movie. We were a little late, but the ads were still playing. However, the theater was stuffed to the brim! We had to work really hard to find 2 seats together. We ended up asking someone to move over one seat so that my cousin Manaal and I could sit together. My dad somehow found a seat directly in front of me. I got comfortable and prepared to hear loud snoring.

The movie was amazing, and I was completely enchanted by it. A while later, I didn't hear any snoring. At the end of the movie,  I asked my Dad how his nap was. Apparently, he never went to sleep and he really liked the movie. I kind of knew he would. It was hard to fall asleep during an action packed movie like that!

The next day, it was Thanksgiving! We had a delicious Thanksgiving feast with Irani style chicken, lamb leg, and other sides. Manaal and I set the table for kids and adults. After we ate dinner, we ate apple pie, of course! Then, we headed out to go Black Friday shopping.

FFFFFOOOODDDDD

Yes, that is splenda... its an inside joke :)

We had a blast at the mall and went to sleep after 1 AM. My uncle made us wake up early the next morning, which was terrible, but very worth it. We all went and got ready to go to San Francisco. It was a warm, sunny day, which was perfect for a day out and about in San Francisco. When we arrived, we drove to one of the most crooked roads in the US. It was so steep that I was scared that the car was going to roll backwards down the road. The view from the top was really spectacular, though. We also took a short stop to see the Golden Gate Bridge.

View from top of curvy road

Golden Gate Bridge

After that, we headed to the Fisherman's Wharf, or Pier 39 for lunch. We walked around until we came to a huge bakery called Boudin, which is famous for its sourdough bread. We ate outside on the patio. Of course, I had the clam chowder in a sour dough bread bowl. After over-stuffing, we headed to Union Square to do some shopping. We went into the Macy's and accidentally ran into a pastry shop. That's not even the best news! The owner of the shop was Yigit Pura who won a chef show called Top Chef Just Desserts, which I watched. At this point, I had to get something! I got a pecan tart and a macaroon, and they were pretty good.

Fisherman's Wharf

Gorgeous trees

Boudin! YUM

Preparing food

My yummy clam chowder

Pics at Union Square:

I remember him from the TV show

Tout Sweet 

Rainbow macaroons! 

Chocolate Ganache  

Special flavored Marshmallows 

We wanted to go to other stores, but apparently there was a whole thing for lighting up the gigantic Christmas tree in Union Square and caused a crazy huge crowd, so we skipped the shopping and went to dinner. My aunt and uncle took us to their favorite South Indian restaurant. We never ever eat Indian food, and it was very good! Here are some pics of the meal:

Stuffed with potatoes (soo good!)

Gotta love this

Unfortunately, the next day was the day we went back to Arizona. We had lunch at a bakery in Danville called La Boulange. I had some French Onion Soup, a goat cheese sandwich, and a steak sandwich. No, I didn't order all of these things; I shared with my sister, of course.

YUM

Great ambiance 

French Onion Soup

Get a bowl of hot chocolate at La Boulange 

My steak sandwich 

After lunch, we went into a pet store and drooled over the kittens and then said goodbye to the family. We were back on the road. Another 12 hours... Thank god that's over.

I had so much fun with my family this Thanksgiving! What did you guys do over the break?

Hair Trends for 2014

So what kind of locks are in this season?

1. Punk/Gothic 

Edgy pixie cuts, angled bobs, and dark colors are definitely in right now. You don't have to go all out goth... Just try out a raven black, dark blue, or a jagged cut. Dark smokey eyes and black lipstick helps achieve this look, too.

You can still achieve this look with light hair!

Be punk and glamorous at the same time!

2. The Ombre Effect

We've all heard of this one before... If you haven't, you might as well live under a rock. Just in case you do, I'll explain the ombre effect. Ombre is referring to a color gradient, in which a color slowly goes  from a dark to a light shade. Sometimes, people also do reverse ombre, when their hair color starts lighter at the roots and gets darker when it goes down. This is a super cute style, but some people (including me) are getting sort of tired of this trend. I'll show you a way to spice it up later. Remember- Ombre is pretty low maintenance if you want to get your hair dyed. It only damages the ends, so you can always get rid of it by getting a haircut. You also don't have to get it redone every few weeks if your roots are growing back, because this style already utilizes your natural color.

I love fiery red ombre!

3. Neon Colors
If you are crazy like me, you might consider going for an unnatural hair color. I personally would not dye my whole head a neon color, but maybe go for an ombre effect, so that it would be a more subtle style. If you are going to do this for the first time, I recommend non-permanent dyes like hair chalks to make sure you like your hair like this. It is a pretty drastic change. Some may cringe at the thought, but I think that it would be an interesting way to change it up and express yourself.

People with light hair often go for faded pastel colors

OMG I LOVE THIS PURPLE HAIRRRR

                                         

4. Classic Red Head
I love love love red hair. It can be fun, classic, elegant, and also daring at the same time. I can't even explain, so just look.

Ariana and her classic red velvet hair

Rihanna was a fun and flirty red head

Of course, Emma Stone

Florence Welch

5.  Honey Blonde

I CANNOT pull off blonde hair. But, for those of you who can, take advantage of the honey blonde highlights in your hair. I love 'em. Here are some fashionable celebs rocking their honey blonde strands.

The super gorgeous Scarlett Johansson

And of course, Jen Lawrence!

Let me know what you think of this and comment below :) I really want to dye my hair purple, but what if it gets messed up? Leave comments and help me through this hair dilemma!

Easy Nail Ideas

I have a confession to make- I cannot do my nails! I can hardly paint them a solid color. Whenever I try to paint my nails, disaster strikes. I'm really impatient and I don't let them dry properly. Then, they get ruined. I proceed to try to fix them, but it only makes things worse. This cycle is followed down to the last detail every time I want to put on some nail polish.

I have been researching on easy nail art ideas (ones that I might have a chance at executing nicely) and I realized that there is still hope for people like me. Whenever I have some free time, I'm going to sit down and try these out.

1) Galaxy

These are super cute and also seemingly easy to pull off. All you need is a black , pink/purple, blue, grey, and silver glitter polishes and a foundation sponge for application. Apply two coats of black to your nails. Put a small amount of blue polish to the foundation sponge and began dabbing it on until it is blended well on the nail. Do the same with the grey and pink, and go over any nail with a color that has been blotted out. Make sure everything is blended. At this point, you shouldn't be able to tell where the colors begin and end. Once this is dry, apply a layer of silver glitter. Now, you are set! Super easy and the product is fabulous!

2) Stair-Step

This nail art is also great for beginners. It requires no nail art tools, and no art skills. Keep in mind that you can use any colors you'd like, including darker and metallic colors for a more sophisticated look. Apply two coats of the color you want on the back of the nail (it will show the most) on the entire nail. Once this layer is dry, take the color you want in the middle of the design (only a little will peek through) and apply it to the nail in a stair-step like fashion. To achieve this, move a little closer to your nail tip so the color you applied just before will be visible in the design.Start from one end of the nail and do a long stroke. Then, next to it, do a shorter stroke, and next to that, an even shorter stroke. Fill in the stair-like shape to the tip of the nail. Now, take the last color you want to use (at the tip of the nail) and make another stair shape over the middle layer. Keep it shorter, so some of the middle layer is visible. Add a top coat, and there you go! An easy way to create a fun and interesting design.

3. Half Moon

For this, you will need two colors, one for the half-moon shape, and one for the rest of the nail. You will also need circular stickers. Apparently you can get them at office supply stores or office supply isles at a grocery store. It's really hard to explain so I took a terrible picture (below) so that you could understand. I think that any circular sticker with a similar size would work.

First, paint your nail completely the color that you want your half-moon to be. After it is totally dry, apply the sticker to the bottom of the nail for a perfect half- circle shape. Now, apply your second color over it. Use the sticker to your advantage. It's okay to get polish on the outer edge of the sticker. Just make sure that the color covers from the tip of the nail to the sticker's outer edge. Wait a couple of minutes until the second color you applied is almost dry, but still sticky. Now, pull of the sticker to reveal the perfect half-moon shape! Apply a top coat, and you have a professional-looking mani!

4. Cornered French Tip

This literally takes a couple of swipes of nail polish, and you are good to go!I think it's a cute twist on a French Manicure. Again, you can change up the colors however you would like to. First, apply a sold base coat. Once this is dry, go in with your second color (in this case, pink.) Start from the edge of the nail, and swipe to the center. Do this for both sides. Make sure to be fast, so that the lines have a smooth feel. Then, go in with the darker color and do the same, but a little below the first tip you made to it peeks through. Fill it in at the tip and viola! Super adorable!

Ok, I seriously need to try all of these! I can't believe how simple they are to do! I got all of the ideas from a Youtuber/ blogger called MissJenFabulous. She does nails and beauty tutorials. Check out her blog at polishandpearls.com! Let me know what you think of these designs and feel free to try them out!

Cuisine of the Month: Chinese

I'm sure everyone has tried "Chinese" food... But is it really Chinese? The Chinese food available in America is almost always non authentic, and many of our classic "Chinese" favorites are just made here. I've always liked Chinese food, but I never really knew what it was until I ended up in a small, locally owned, traditional Chinese restaurant called Chou's Kitchen in Chandler. If you think Panda Express, Pei Wei, or P.F. Chang's is Chinese, think again.

Come here for the BEST Chinese food

Chou's Kitchen isn't the fanciest restaurant, but has a family friendly atmosphere. The owners and staff recognize us now, and are always super nice. Chou's specializes in Manchurian cuisine, and is famous for it's selection of pies, buns, and pancakes. Whenever I go to Chou's, I HAVE TO order the beef pies.

Crispy on the outside, soft and juicy on the inside

True Chinese food has a homemade element that you can rarely find at a chain restaurant. The uniqueness comes from the use of a variety of spices, including the Szechuan peppercorn. This special pepper causes your tongue to become numb. Some say that it even helps you handle spicier foods than you could normally eat. When eating a Szechuan peppercorn, your mouth starts to tingle a little bit. It's quite an interesting sensation. When at Chou's, I always have Szechuan Chicken and Beef in Chili Oil, dishes that both play with the complexity of the peppercorn.

Beef in Chili oil highlights the Szechuan Peppercorn

Szechuan Chicken with dried red peppers

What else do I love about Chinese? The answer is simple: dried chili oil. No Chinese dish is complete without a little dried chili oil. A lot of the times, you can find mildly spicy homemade chili oil, which won't make your tongue burn, but definitely provides texture and flavor. People think I'm crazy, but I enjoy eating it on it's own... with a spoon... I told you I was crazy.

This completes any Chinese dish

Other Chinese dishes that I love include, ones like these:

Cumin Beef highlights cumin's smoky flavor

Crispy Chinese Noodles

Stews made in clay pots

Before you start your meal, you can ask for complimentary Chinese cornmeal porridge. Before this, I had no idea that cornmeal porridge was part of Chinese cuisine. It's a bit bland for me, but after dumping in a satisfying amount of chili oil and soy sauce, is the perfect way to start off a meal.

Try ordering this at Panda Express

So- I bet you can't find any of this at Panda Express. Well, in a flavorful manner, anyways. Chinese cuisine is really homemade and you can taste the love in the food, when it's made correctly, of course. I would really advise you to try an authentic Chinese place out- trust me, you'll never be able to eat a fortune cookie ever again.

Now, I'm going to go complain about how hungry I am to my parents... Maybe they'll take me to Chou's kitchen.